Green stays easy at the Maui Four Seasons

With the breezy, open-air design of the verandas at the Four Seasons Resort Maui, the need for energy-consuming air conditioning has been eliminated.

Photograph by: Eva Polis
, Edmonton Journal

It's a good thing Air Canada didn't play any of the movies making their debut at the Maui Film Festival during my flight to this heavenly Hawaiian island.

The featured films, with titles like Spotlight Earth, A Beginner's Guide to Giving a Damn about Climate Change and Penguin in a Pickle, made me feel G.U.I.L.T.Y. about my dependence on oil products for personal pleasure. I'm referring to jet fuel, not the petroleum by-product "whipped cream."

Since the launch of Anya Hindmarch's "I'm not a plastic bag" phenomenon and Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, the planet's fate has been front-and-centre. Yet, globe-trotting continues.

So on this trip, instead of worrying about the effectiveness of my SPF, I focus my energies on saving the penguin. To make amends for failing to offset carbon emissions on my flight, I decide to limit my impact on the environment once I've arrived at my destination -- the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea.

How green could I make my stay and just how green was my hotel of choice?

This resort franchise owned by Michael Dell of Dell Computers makes it extremely easy for you to stay put. So I do. With three on-site restaurants and room service, I pooh-pooh the 100 Mile Diet and embark on the 100 Metre Diet -- food within reach of my spectacular oceanfront suite.

The signature purple orchids that greet you upon arrival in lei form and then decorate everything from your pillow to toilet bowl are in fact edible, organic and locally grown. For fear of turning purple, I also choose to eat at Ferraro's, Duo and Spago and simply roll from one restaurant to another, thus minimizing the carbon dioxide I emit.

Not finding any alcohol on the menu that is distilled in Hawaii, I opt for the next-best thing -- a cocktail with a local name. The cocktail in question is the Maui Elite, and at $150, it has the honour of being one of the world's most expensive. The Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac is bottled in environmentally friendly glass and the sugared rim is locally raised cane. So far, so friendly.

Hawaiian Isles bottled water is served at the hotel. Fiji water is also abundantly available. I'm a Fiji fan and not that quick to give up my fave. My husband insists I take part in a blind taste test. I choose Fiji. (Someone please tell those penguins to stop looking at me.)

One call to the concierge and from this day forth we're drinking coconut water straight from freshly picked coconuts. We've achieved 100-per-cent local -- completely done away with the need for plastic bottles. And we have lovely bowling balls as gifts for friends and loved ones.

Hotel towels are another of my weaknesses. I love to use each and every single towel in the a.m. and then have fresh towels in the p.m. The penguin and I have a stare-off. I strike a deal with my husband. I decide he can reuse his towels and I enrol myself in a 12-step towel addiction program.

Step one -- a tour of the hotel's laundry facility, which turns out to be an environmental hallelujah. The Four Seasons installed a tunnel wash/dry system that uses eco-friendly laundry soap and has knocked back the use of water from 17 million gallons to seven million per year and reduced energy usage from 737 kilowatts to 298 kilowatts per year.

I learn that each of the 380 rooms is responsible for an average of 42 pounds of laundry per day and that you can thank 30 hard-working individuals for your clean sheets and towels. "Hello. My name is Eva and I no longer toss a towel into the tub after one use."

The 24-hour swimming pool gets a green star from both the penguins and me. Instead of using the harsh chemical chlorine, the resort has opted for a saline system. Salt water keeps you more buoyant and your bathing suit looking fresher, longer.

And, miracle of miracles, after a dip you emerge looking like none other than Elle McPherson. The side-effects of being planet-friendly are indeed favourable.

Our room is so close to the ocean that the breeze itself is a natural form of AC. Other penguin-approved moves include jigging the room AC system to deactivate when the lanai doors are open and installing ceiling fans in the rooms.

I add running around naked to my personal save-the-planet efforts. In addition to open-air public spaces -- entirely eliminating the need for air conditioning -- you'll also find an open-air fitness centre that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger helped design. You know who to vote for if you're American.

This resort has done some really smart scent marketing, too. In partnership with Ajne they've created a fragrance that'll remind you of your time spent on the island -- Palena'ole. This plant-distilled essential oil-based perfume magically transports you to the island without having to leave your backyard. How's that for the ultimate in carbon-free travel?

Ajne creators -- parfumeur Jane Hendler and husband and distiller Rex Rombach -- spent time "smelling" Maui and then bottling it. They even asked the flowers' permission before picking them. Their fragrances are phthalate free. That's the bad stuff used in the manufacture of plastics.

It's impossible to go stir crazy here. The ocean is right at your bare feet. A multimillion-dollar art collection gives you museum-quality works by local artists to enjoy in the hotel itself. I also spa myself to perfection with an ocean-air facial, cocoon treatments and a massage in a Hale Hau.

A Hale is an authentically constructed open-air thatched roof hut that looks out onto the ocean and has been deemed by purists as one of the most natural places on earth to have a massage. The other best place would be Pierce Brosnan's bedroom -- one floor above mine.

As departure day looms -- much like the Earth's demise -- I desperately search for a green means of transportation back to Canada. I miss my paddle-boarding lesson, so I strike that idea off my list. I consider swimming, but locals insist you vacate the water at dusk.

So I choose the option employed by paparazzi stalking the celebs at the Fours Seasons. I carve out a home for myself in the perfectly manicured nuapaka hedges on the property's edge and decide to just live here instead like a feral island cat.

Almost Done!

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